Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-02-12
WASHINGTON ARCHITECTURE
Letter From the Architect.

! VII.
| Dear John:-You may have observed that those
| sanity people who have the reputation OF being
'1n the world but not OF it, are apt to be distip
| gutShed by selfish care for their own souls and
| supllme inuHerence TO the temporal welfare of
| their 1eiioW men. The essential qualities OF the
| plumbing which you say must be Sin the house
but not OF IL, should be the reverse of ths:-un-
conditional devotion to the immediate weli-being
OF the househoid. to the common wants of those
whom 1t aims to serve No question OF its own
attractive appearance, of taste, style, or even of
| economy should be allowed to stand in the way OF
this constant service. Undoubtedly the most sat
1sfactory arrangement would be to have
| TUE PLUMBING
and all Its belongings of the house but not In II
that is to say, so closely connected with the house
as 10 pe entlrely convenient and yet be partly Or
| wholly detached. But this, in city house would
involve disadvantages more serious and difficult
| to overcome than those that are incidental TO
keeping IL strictly within the walls OF the main
| Dullulng wien city houses attempt to spread
their wings or extend their arms they thrust them
| before their own eyes or into the eyes OF their
1t is needless for me to advise so astute politi-
| clan as yoursen on the subject Of managing
skeleton closet. Every public man in these degen-
| crate Gays Is supposed to have one or more of
these time-honored institutions on his hands; so
| Will merely remark that the ordinary plumbing
In modern dwelling house should be treated sub.
stantially as If 1t were the most dangerous and
disreputable skeleton that ever established itself
In the bosom OF first family, 1t must be sur
| rounded Dy such safeguards that its existence
need never be discovered by any outward signs
Not that its existence should be ignored; a Well
entifc plumbing, is something to be proud
OF, and to Introduce to your friends as one of
your most cherished and highly. respectable
possessions; but it should be as sharply controlled
| as II your life and honor depended upon conceal
Ing the fact that there was ever single plumbing
| pipe in the house. You must be safe not only
| from serious dangers which are almost impossible
| or detection, but from annoyanceS that are not
dangerous at all,-merely unpleasant and Often
SlVe Ch1ef among these are the noises incident to
water pipes, particularly what is known is the
flushing OF water closets 1t seems unaccount-
innumerable patents brought forth every year,
each Of which is absolutely perfect and proves
all its predecessors worthless, there is not one per-
feet water closet that can be thoroughly flushed
| without rushing and gurgling OF waters, equal
| to the cataract OF LodOre or Wyoming geyser.
| Wash bowls and bath tubs sufficiently quiet,
and but for the unreasonable rush and roar OF the
closets 1t would only be necessary that the encloS
ing walls SHOULD be thoroughly deafened in order
TO prevent all annoyance from this cause; not the
vertical walls alone but the floors and ceilings.
You must not suppose, because you hear the
that The sound comes straight through the par
| tition WALL and by no other route. 1t may go up
through the , thin plastering overhead or down
through the floor, and make itself manifest like
tobacco smoke OF false rumor, allover the house
The ceilings. walls and floors must all be as
thick, solid and non-resonant as you can make
them in the space at your disposal. 1t viii cost
something, OF course, but the increased expense
will be less than the difference OF cost between
| good plain fixtures and the ornamental styles
which you will perhaps be persuaded TO buy,
but which are no better than The plain
| ones. The door is the weak point in the defense:
1t must be as thick the other doors, and OF the
| same thickness all over; not simply narrow
frame filled in with several pairs OF fanciul panels
having scarcely more substance than the back OF
| q violin and as resonant as a drum head. There
ought to be two doors with small lobby between
| them large enough for a person to pass through
the first door and shut it before opening the sec
| ond. You will say that this is an absurd amount
OF trouble to take, but doubt whether you can in
| any other way keep your plumbing sin the house
| but not OF it," This relates only to keeping it
quiet noise being the least serious oense OF which
plumbing is liable TO be guilty. The worst dangers
are those most difficult to detect. Even the per-
ceptibie odors that result from imperfectly con-
structed and tmpcrfectly ventilated fixtures are
reckOned less dangerous than those gases that
| can be detected only by the most delicate and
difficult tests. still, il you can guard perfectly
| against the annoyance OF the former you Will be
reasonably safe from the pestlenlial miasma that
walketh in darkness and dealeth destruction at
monday.
protecting yourself against these 1DSidiouS foes:
The first and most essential is to keep them in the
| cells where they belOng-that is, in the various
| pipes and attachments OF the plumbing fixtures;
| the other ia ~ make sure that you send them out
| Of the bath room without delay ii by any chance
| they escape from their lawful imprisonment. The
first OF these things requires for its accomplish
ment three conditions: Perfect workmanship In
the plumbing, which you can only secure by a
combination VI Ist-claSs skill and frst-claSs hon
eoty; ample ventilation OF the watercloset on the
house side OF the trap, Gf you do not know what
that means, ask plumber, who will probably tell
you il is unnecessary: but don't you believe him,
for 1t is absolutely impossible TO have clean plumb
ing without 10y; and, thirdly, il requires direct,
fuli-szed ventilation OF all waste pipes and traps.
l am aware that the last mentioned requirement
is hotly disputed by one school OF experts and as
stoutly maintained by another. AT present vote
with the free traders as regards the abundant cir
culation OF air in plumbing pipes.
The other point under consideration, getting rid
and for foul purposes into the room in which the
most of the plumbing In a compact city house
ought to stand and preventing their offensive in.
truson into the other rooms OF the house. requires
that the walls OF the bath room should be not
fishing which have just described, but that they
should be as nearly airtignt as possible. common
plastered partition is exceedingly porous, so is
dry brick wall. Wooden walnScOtS are full OF
cracks, as well as wooden floors. This penetra-
bility and absorbent quality must be overcome.
TO this end some kinds OF building paper use
full. coat OF asphaltum would be effective, and
q thorough application OF Oil and Lead, that is, OF
good paint, is practically air tight. The difficulty
Is to maintain the unbrOken surface, but having
secured these imperv1ous walls it is only neceS-
sary to provide ample breathing tubes opening
two entrance doors have its own Independent ven
tilation. This again you viii say Is great bother;
but surely it is 40 greater than it would be TO
place the bathroom off at the end OF long corri-
dor il an outside wing, which you would do ii you
could. II you carry out this general treatment
your plumbing viii be virtually as far away as IL
il were across the street OF in another building
and can have no more harmful influence upon the
rest or the house than If IL actually removed
Now, If you wish for any more suggestions on the
subject ask tor them.
THE FIRE PLACES
come next. am not aware that any one has ever
given q scientific reason for the extraordinary
fascination which living fire has for all other
living things, from moths to men. Apparently the
nearer get to the SOurce-ony source however
feeble and transitory, OF light and heat-the more
nearly are we to being perfectly content with our
situation. From this point or view the blazing
fire ON the hearth OF the back-wOodS cabin repre-
sents higher degree OF development and c1vili-
cation than the most deliberately and elegantly
furnished apartment, the warmth for which is
drawn from hidden sources. Leaving theories
aside, / am persuaded that the best condition for
q dwelling house, as regard its healthfulnesS is
secured when the air 1t contains is as nearly as
possible like the Out-Of-doOr air in its normal
state in pleasant weather. and that this condition
is best secured and maintained when the walls OF
a house are built as the walls OF civilized house
ought to be- but seldom are nOn-conducting OF
heat and moisture, and when the artificial
warmth required is obtained directly from open
fires.
without doubt this would commonly be constd-
cred excessively announcement and expensive: but
il you have time and money to devote TO your own
comfort and well-betng doubt II you can spend
them to better advantage. Still, ii you prefer to
adopt the middle course and ii Mrs. John objects
to managing a large servants boarding-house